Hotel Hana Maui
 

i was just on the Hotel Hana Maui website and feel compelled to start saving the money for at least a night or two there...it looks well, cliche but true, heavenly. i can't imagine getting to spend an entire week!!! too sublime! has anyone out there ever had the privelege, either a night or two or more?? is it as gorgeous and serene as it appears?

anyone??

As a rule, I do not enjoy staying at resorts, but the HHM is the exception for me. Reserve a Sea Cottage. No TV, no clocks, but lots of Aloha.

The Hotel Hana has had its ups and downs over the years, and the quality of the resort has fluctuated with ownership/management issues.
The hotel was purchased in 1989 by a Japanese company which planned to develop a large Wailea style golf resort there. This was thwarted by the local/county government.
By 1993 the owners began looking for a buyer for the hotel, and service and quality waned.
In 1995 AmanResorts (an Indonesian company which operates some of the most highly rated hotels in the world....check the world top 100 list in Conde Nast Traveler and their properties pepper the upper part of the list).
The Hotel Hana has improved under Aman's management.
Some people consider it the ultimate Hawaiian getaway. For some, it's too remote and too quiet. All a matter of personal style.

Hi

I have heard wonderful things about the resort and have one night reserved in a Sea Ranch cottage in Sept. My husband and I did not want to do the road to Hana in one day so decided to splurge for one ngiht and not check out of our hotel on the west coast. I am really looking forward to it.

Rwilliams, where did you get this history of the HHM? According to Hana history and the Pacific Business Journal the hotel is owned by Passport Resorts, the same people who own the Post Ranch at Big Sur.

In 1984 it was purchased by the Rosewood Corporation of Dallas, Texas who sold it in 1989 to Keola Hana-Maui, an international investment group made up of Japanese, British and local investors. In July 2000 Meridian Financial Resources out of Chicago took over. In January 2001 Meridien sold the entire 4,500 acre Hana Ranch to Hana Acquisition Partners, which is largely financed by the Ronald Getty Trust. They, in turn sold the Hotel Hana Maui and associated Hana Town Center businesses to Passport Reorts a few months later.

We had the pleasure of staying at the Hotel Hana Maui for two nights. Our travel agent strongly suggested it for a splurge. We arrived in Maui late morning, stopped for lunch and then drove the road to Hana. It was so wonderful to arrive at the beautiful oasis of the hotel after the long drive. It is just lovely and calming. We had a duluxe garden view which was an upgrade from the garden view that we had booked. The room was so incredibly comfortable and setting and service excellent. The restaurant is the only game in town and the night we got there was a buffet. We are not fans of buffets but they did have an entertaining hula show with local people which was surprisingly enjoyable. We didn't take advantage of any of the spa services that are offered. The next day we drove further passed Hana and almost enjoyed that more than the road to Hana. Our dinner the second night was off the menu and it was more than decent. Our last four days were spent in Makena, near Wailea. We found that a great way to split up the time in Maui.

That's all correct, here_.
The Keola group was/is a Japan-based investment group which sought to overdevelop the area (in the eyes of locals).
AmanResorts took over in 1995, and there have been at least 2 management changes since then.
I haven't kept track of the HHM lately, but recall how it was starting to suffer from lack of commitment in the 1990's.
Running the resort profitably has to be very difficult given its location.

If it's run by the same people who run Post Ranch it has to be fabulous.
In my opinion Post Ranch is the most fabulous hotel in California...all eco and understated luxury so much better than Ventana.